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Embodied cognitive evolution and the limits of convergence.

Robert Barton1, Louise Barrett2

  • 1Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Durham University, Durham, UK.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Comparative psychology needs conceptual clarity. Sensory-motor adaptations, not confounding variables, are key to understanding divergent cognitive evolution across species.

Keywords:
brain evolutioncognitive evolutioncognitivismembodimentsensory-motor systems

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Area of Science:

  • Comparative psychology
  • Cognitive evolution
  • Animal behavior

Background:

  • Comparative psychology faces challenges in defining and comparing cognitive capacities across species.
  • Current approaches often rely on anthropocentric, folk-psychological concepts framed in cognitivist terms.
  • The 'cognitivist gambit' assumes cognitive processes are independent of sensory-motor specializations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a new conceptual framework for comparative psychology.
  • To integrate sensory-motor adaptations into the study of cognitive evolution.
  • To address the limitations of anthropocentric and computational approaches.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of existing frameworks in comparative psychology.
  • Argument for the intrinsic role of sensory-motor adaptations in cognitive evolution.
  • Emphasis on phylogenetic constraints and divergent evolution.

Main Results:

  • Sensory-motor adaptations are integral to cognitive evolution, not confounding variables.
  • Divergent sensory-motor systems across species necessitate attention to phylogenetic constraints.
  • Oversimplification of neuro-cognitive evolution by metrics like brain size or neuron count is insufficient.

Conclusions:

  • A reconceptualization of the ontological basis of comparative psychology is needed.
  • Future research should focus on the interplay between nervous systems, cognition, behavior, and ecology within an evolutionary context.
  • Understanding animal minds requires acknowledging the diversity shaped by selection.